Guided Press Tour

Sunday, April 18, 2:00 pm
Starting at the Forum in the center of the Group Exhibit, Hall 13, Booth F45

Participants:

Lang Zhong, Marketing Director
Fuyuan Century Fuel Cell Power Co. Ltd.
Beijing, P.R. China

Ulf Groos, Marketing Hydrogen Technology
Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE
Freiburg, Germany

Arno A. Evers, owner and operator of Group Exhibit H2/FC
Arno A. Evers FAIR-PR
Starnberg, Germany

Ulrich Walter, Moderator
Arno A. Evers FAIR-PR
Starnberg, Germany

Welcome to the tenth anniversary of the Group Exhibit - Hydrogen + Fuel Cells.
I’d like to welcome to the stage three guests: Mr. Lang Zhong, Mr. Ulf Groos and Mr. Arno E. Evers.

During the Fair, beginning tomorrow morning, we will have a forum programme every twenty minutes, all day long.

Let’s start with Mr. Groos, Marketing Director of Hydrogen Technology for the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE), from Freiburg in Germany. The Institute that has been at the Group Exhibit every year, since the very beginning, 10 years ago!

Mr. Groos: Well, personally I have only been here for 5 years, but the Institute has been here for 10. Over that time, we have witnessed a transformation. In earlier years the Group Exhibit was really research-based. But now, we are witnessing the transformation to a commercial exhibit. In fact, the Group Exhibit has moved from it’s former home in the technology pavillion to here, where it is more market based. We always do well here. Every year this fair is successful for us. We can clearly say that technology transfer works!

Mr. Zhong from the Marketing Department of the Fuyuan Century Fuel Cell Power company: This is our first time here. Fuel Cells are not too well known in China. We are trying to develop low-wattage products. The market in China is slowly starting to grow, but it is not as well known as it is in the West.

And now to Mr. Arno E. Evers, founder, owner and operator of FAIR-PR: Congratulations on reaching ten years!

Mr. Evers: I knew that we would get this big, I just never knew when it would happen. In terms of the next ten years, that’s up to the exhibitors. We hope they will all come back for the eleventh anniversary next year!
Today, we are just at the very beginning. 100 years ago, the Wright Bros flew a plane for 57 seconds, just two metres off the ground. Who would have thought that in 100 years time there would be planes flying 300 people to the other side of the world., at 10,000 feet?
That’s where we are at today, in terms of fuel cells. We are at that first flight. And I’m sure that we can’t even begin to imagine where we will be in 100 years time. There is no question that it will take a lot of work, but it will come…..
Maybe the “killer app” is out there, here, today, this week at the Hannover Fair.
I would have to say that for me the highlight of the Fair this year is the “internationality”. We have exhibitors from 24 countries- a real record!
We also have exhibitors showing every type of application, in every size.

I’d also like to add that we will be holding a second Group Exhibit in Shanghai this November. Our motto has always been “Go to where the Market is!”. And that’s why we’re going to Shanghai. China is part of that future market. I don’t know if the future of Fuel Cells is there, but I believe that it is. We will definitely start small in Shanghai. Nobody expects us to reach the size of Hannover overnight. Also, significantly, we will be part of the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology’s Pavillion. I invite everyone to come to China this November.

The guided press tour went to:

Chinese Pavilion
Representatives of the press visiting the Chinese Pavilion and meeting members of the large Chinese delegation. James Ding, Director and General Manager of the Shanghai Shen Zheng Int'l Business Consultant Co., Ltd., Shanghai, China spoke to the assembled group about the increasing importance of Hydrogen and Fuel Cells in China.

IMM- Insitut fuer Mikrotechnik Mainz GmbH, Mainz, Germany
At the IMM exhibit, Dr.- Ing. Gunther Kolb, Head of Process Engineering and Heterogeneous Catalysis at IMM- Insitut fuer Mikrotechnik Mainz GmbH, Mainz, Germany spoke to the press about his view that in the short to medium term, micro-structures, which result in more efficient heat transfers, would focus on energy for portable systems.

Saia-Burgess Dreieich GmbH & Co. KG, Dreieich, Germany
The press also stopped at the Saia-Burgess Dreieich GmbH & Co. KG, Dreieich, Germany booth where the importance of the IT world for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells was explained by Ulrich-Michael Dismer, Market Segment Manager Energy Controls.

Nuvera Fuel Cells Inc., Cambridge, MA, USA
The press were next taken to see a Fiat car powered entirely by Fuel Cells at the booth of Nuvera Fuel Cells Inc., Cambridge, MA, USA. William Mitchell, P.E., Vice President, invited press to return to see a live demonstration of the car on Tuesday and Thursday of this week.

MTU CFC Solutions GmbH, Ottobrunn, Germany
Torsten Bardewyck, Manager of Marketing and Sales for MTU CFC Solutions GmbH, Ottobrunn, Germany showed his company’s stationary fuel cell that can achieve an overall efficiency of 90%. The company currently has a model working in a hospital that has thus far logged 20,000 hours of operation- and shows no sign of slowing.

Ballard Power Systems Inc. Burnaby, BC, Canada
Jochen Straub, Communications at Ballard Power Systems Inc. Burnaby, BC, Canada displayed a model for a back-up battery that allows no interuption of the power supply.

Click here for the Guided Press Tour HANNOVER FAIR '03